Project Type: New Build
Location: St Mary’s School, Shaftsbury, Dorset
Employer/Client: St Mary’s School Shaftesbury Trust
Sector: Education
Procurement Method: Traditional Drawings and Bills of Quantities
Contract Sum: £850,000 to £875,000
Role: Quantity Surveyor
Description of Project
This was the seventh major new build project the company has work on at the school, previous projects involved a swimming pool and a dormitory block. The project further strengthened out ties with the school and our understanding of their future needs.
The new Classroom block has been constructed on the School’s campus site within an area surrounded by woodlands.
The building itself has a gross internal floor area of 754m², which is split over three storeys and provides nine large classrooms, supplementary offices and resource areas.
Mitchell Harvey Partnership designed the scheme to complement the existing ashlar stone buildings which form much of the school. The project was constructed by the Dorset based A Hammond & Sons Ltd. within the 38 week timescale set.
The external envelope is a mixture of architectural textured fair faced masonry blocks and western red cedar horizontal and vertical boarding, this ensured that the build blends in to the existing ashlar stone of the nearest building but also looked contemporary.
Where required the windows are framed with matching architectural feature lintels and cills and feature quoins were introduced.
The roof is finished in clay plain tiles to match the surrounding buildings.
To ensure adequate natural daylight floods into the third floor which is partly formed in the roof void large dormer windows and velux windows have been introduced.
The dividing floors are constructed using precast concrete hollow core floor plank and are serviced by two in-situ concrete staircases and a 4 person lift.
The building included a number of complex construction methods such as the piled foundations, integrated hollow block piers which included tie reinforcement and concrete to ensure the whole of the building structure tied together to provide protection against collapse.
The roof structure although formed using traditional cut timbers needed to accommodate the roof lights, dormers and the large spans so involved a complex system of trimmers and the bolting of timbers together.
The rooms were completed and fitted out ready for use by the school including all finishes and decorations. The building incorporated electrical installations including telephone and computer wiring plus mechanical installations including heating and ventilation. The heating has the benefit of being underfloor heating so the walls are uninterrupted by radiators providing better working areas.
Specialist systems included a complete fire alarm installation and lightning protection.
The site works included paving, retaining walls and seeding.
Consultant Services Provided
The Pre-Contract Services carried out on this project included the preparation of a budget, preparation of the Bills of Quantities for inclusion with the tender documents, plus the checking, reporting and negotiation based on the tenders received. A full detailed Building Cost Information Services form of cost analysis was also produced and provided a cost analysis of £1,136.94/m²
The Post-Contract Services included the continual cost monitoring of the project, including attendance at monthly financial review meetings with our Client. The agreement and certification of monthly valuations included reviews of the M & E installations. We were regularly called upon to discuss and deal with a number of contractual matters. Finally we carried out the preparation and agreement of the Final Account.